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+# Security Headers, Coverage Gates & Web Vitals Design
+
+> **Date:** 2026-03-18
+> **Product:** ResolutionFlow
+> **Branch:** `feat/security-headers-coverage-performance`
+> **Purpose:** Add HTTP security headers, enforce test coverage gates, and instrument Core Web Vitals reporting
+
+---
+
+## Decisions
+
+| Decision | Choice | Rationale |
+|----------|--------|-----------|
+| Security headers priority | First | Highest trust signal for MSP buyers, real protection |
+| CSP rollout strategy | Report-only first, then enforce | Avoids breaking third-party integrations (PostHog, Sentry, Google Fonts, React Flow) |
+| Backend coverage gate | 80% fail threshold | Already near this level, prevents drift |
+| Frontend coverage gate | Report-only (no gate yet) | Starting from zero — establish baseline first |
+| Web Vitals destination | PostHog | 100% of sessions captured (vs Sentry's 20% sample), correlate with product analytics |
+
+---
+
+## 1. Security Headers Middleware
+
+### New file: `backend/app/core/security_headers.py`
+
+Starlette middleware that adds security headers to every response.
+
+### Headers
+
+| Header | Value | Purpose |
+|--------|-------|---------|
+| `Strict-Transport-Security` | `max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains` | Force HTTPS for 1 year |
+| `X-Content-Type-Options` | `nosniff` | Prevent MIME sniffing |
+| `X-Frame-Options` | `DENY` | Block iframe embedding |
+| `Referrer-Policy` | `strict-origin-when-cross-origin` | Limit referrer leakage |
+| `Permissions-Policy` | `camera=(), microphone=(), geolocation=()` | Disable unused browser APIs |
+| `Content-Security-Policy-Report-Only` | *(see below)* | CSP in report-only mode |
+
+### CSP Directive (report-only)
+
+```
+default-src 'self';
+script-src 'self' https://us.i.posthog.com https://*.sentry.io;
+style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline' https://fonts.googleapis.com;
+font-src 'self' https://fonts.gstatic.com;
+img-src 'self' data: blob:;
+connect-src 'self' https://us.posthog.com https://us.i.posthog.com https://*.sentry.io https://api.resolutionflow.com;
+frame-ancestors 'none';
+base-uri 'self';
+form-action 'self'
+```
+
+### Wiring
+
+- Add middleware in `main.py` after CORS middleware (so CORS preflight responses aren't affected)
+- CSP directives configurable via `config.py` so promotion to enforcing mode is a config change, not a code change
+- HSTS only sent when `DEBUG=false` (avoid locking localhost into HTTPS)
+
+### Tests
+
+Integration test that hits an endpoint and asserts all expected headers are present with correct values.
+
+---
+
+## 2. Coverage Gates
+
+### Backend: Enforce at 80%
+
+- Add `--cov-fail-under=80` to the pytest command in CI
+- One-line change — reporting already wired up with `pytest-cov`
+
+### Frontend: Report-only (establish baseline)
+
+- Install `@vitest/coverage-v8` as dev dependency
+- Add coverage config to `vite.config.ts`:
+  - Reporters: `text` + `json-summary` + `html`
+  - Include: `src/**/*.{ts,tsx}`
+  - Exclude: `src/test/`, `src/types/`, `**/*.d.ts`
+- Add `test:coverage` script to `package.json`
+- Update CI to run `npm run test:coverage` instead of `npm test`
+- Display summary in CI output — no failure threshold yet
+- Add `coverage/` to `.gitignore`
+
+---
+
+## 3. Web Vitals → PostHog
+
+### Install
+
+`web-vitals` npm package.
+
+### New file: `frontend/src/lib/webVitals.ts`
+
+- Import `onLCP`, `onINP`, `onCLS`, `onFCP`, `onTTFB` from `web-vitals`
+- Each callback sends a PostHog event (`web_vitals`) with properties:
+  - `metric_name` — LCP, INP, CLS, FCP, TTFB
+  - `metric_value` — numeric value
+  - `metric_rating` — good / needs-improvement / poor
+  - `page_path` — current route
+- Single `initWebVitals()` function that registers all observers
+
+### Wiring
+
+Call `initWebVitals()` in `main.tsx` after PostHog initialization.
+
+---
+
+## Scope Summary
+
+| Area | Scope | Files |
+|------|-------|-------|
+| Security headers | New middleware + config + test | 3-4 backend files |
+| Coverage gates | CI config + vitest coverage setup | CI workflow + 3 frontend config files |
+| Web Vitals | New lib + dependency + main.tsx wiring | 2-3 frontend files |
+
+Small, contained changes across all three. No architectural changes or new database models.